The Seventh Gleam
The predictions at the end of Surat al-Fath
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.
God has assuredly confirmed the vision for His Messenger as true (and will certainly fulfill it) in reality: you will certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if God wills, in full security, with your heads shaven or your hair cut short, and you will have nothing to fear. But He always knows what you do not know, and (therefore, without allowing you to enter the Mosque this year,) granted you a near victory before this. He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the Divine guidance and the Religion of truth that He may make it prevail over all religions. God suffices for a witness (for the truth of His promise and the mission of His Messenger). Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those who are in his company are firm and unyielding against the unbelievers, and compassionate among themselves. You see them (constant in the Prayer) bowing down and prostrating, seeking favor with God and His approval and good pleasure. Their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. This is their description in the Torah; and their description in the Gospel: like a seed that has sprouted its shoot, then it has strengthened it, and then risen firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers (with joy and wonder); (thereby) it fills the unbelievers with rage at them (the believers). God has promised all those among them who believe and do good, righteous deeds forgiveness (to bring unforeseen blessings) and a tremendous reward. (48:27–29)
These last three verses of Surat al-Fath20 are miraculous in many respects. Out of the ten comprehensive aspects of the Qur’an’s miraculousness or inimitability, its aspect of giving news of the future is displayed in seven or eight ways. (In other words, it contains seven or eight predictions.)
The first prediction
God has assuredly confirmed the vision for His Messenger as true (and will certainly fulfill it) in reality, to the end of the verse, gives us the certain news of the conquest of Mecca before it happened. It occurred two years later, just as the verse predicted.
The second prediction
In the beginning, the Treaty of Hudaybiya was considered to be against the interests of Islam and it was thought that the Quraysh were victorious. Whereas, He granted you a near victory before this stated that in reality this Treaty would be a great victory and the key to further conquests.
With the Treaty of Hudaybiya, Muslims no longer had to resist the attacks of the Meccans with the sword; instead, the brilliant truths of the Qur’an found a peaceful atmosphere to spread, and it conquered minds and hearts. In this truce, the two sides came to know one another. The virtues of Islam and the light of the Qur’an rent apart the veils of obstinacy and tribal fanaticism and proved to be very effective. For example, people like Khalid ibn Walid, a genius of war, and ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, a genius of politics and diplomacy, who could not accept defeat, were defeated by the Qur’an, which manifested itself in the truce. Having willingly submitted in perfect obedience to Islam in Medina, Khalid began to serve Islam and its conquests.
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION: What was the wisdom in the setbacks of the Companions of the Pride of creation and the Beloved of the Lord of the worlds, upon him be peace and blessings, at the end of Uhud and beginning of Hunayn21 in the face of the polytheists?
THE ANSWER: Among the polytheists were many people like Khalid, who in the future would be equal to the leading Companions of that time. Therefore, so as not to disgrace them entirely in consideration of their glorious future, Divine wisdom gave them an immediate reward for their future good works and did not completely destroy their honor. That is to say, the Companions of the past were defeated by the Companions of the future, so that those future Companions would enter Islam, not through fear of the lightning of the sword, but through zeal for the flash of truth, and so that their inherent valor should not be utterly humiliated.
The third prediction
By saying, You will have nothing to fear, the verse states, “You will certainly circumambulate the Ka‘ba in full security.” However, at that time, not only the environs of Mecca and the tribe of the Quraysh but also the majority of the desert peoples of the Arabian Peninsula were hostile. So, by predicting, “You will certainly circumambulate the Ka‘ba in full security,” the verse states that the Muslims would subdue the entire Arabian Peninsula, all the Quraysh would accept Islam, and total security would be established throughout Arabia. All occurred just as had been foretold.
The fourth prediction
He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the Divine guidance and the Religion of truth that He may make it prevail over all religion foretells with utter certainty that the Religion which the noblest Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, brought would triumph over all religions. However, at that time, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, (and Buddhism) had hundreds of millions of followers and were the official religions of world-dominant states like Rome, Persia, and China, which had hundreds of millions of subjects. The verse states that the Religion which Muhammad the Arabian, upon him be peace and blessings, a man who was yet unable to conquer even his own small tribe, brought would prevail over all religions and be victorious over all states. And it does so in the clearest and most definite manner. The future proved this prediction to be true, with the light of Islam diffusing from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
The fifth prediction
Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those who are in his company are firm and unyielding against the unbelievers, and compassionate among themselves. You see them (constant in the Prayer) bowing down and prostrating. These statements inform us of the prominent virtues and elevated characteristics of the Companions which made them the most virtuous human generation after the Prophets. While in their apparent meaning they express the excellent qualities particular to each class of Companions, they implicitly allude to the order of succession of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs who would succeed the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and mention each with his particular, distinguishing excellences. These are as follows:
Those who are in his company points to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, who was distinguished and famous for being the closest friend of the Prophet, and the first to die and join him after his death. Unyielding against the unbelievers implicitly refers to ‘Umar, who in the future would overawe many countries with his conquests, and make the unjust tremble with his justice. With and compassionate among themselves, the Qur’an alludes to ‘Uthman, who, in the future when the ground for a most serious dissension was being prepared, would prefer to be martyred wrongfully while reciting the Qur’an out of his perfect kindness and compassion in order that the blood of Muslims should not be spilt. Finally, You see them (constant in the Prayer) bowing down and prostrating, seeking favor with God and His approval and good pleasure alludes to the conditions in which ‘Ali would find himself in the future. We learn that ‘Ali was perfectly entitled to the caliphate and undertook it heroically, and that he was not responsible for the wars in which he had to be involved during his caliphate in pursuit of God’s good pleasure. It also points to the fact that ‘Ali, well known for his bowing and prostrations in the Prayer, always preferred perfect asceticism and worship of God.
The sixth prediction
The part, Their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. This is their description in the Torah gives two pieces of information concerning the Unseen:
The first: We are informed of the qualities of the Companions mentioned in the Torah, which was unknown to the illustrious Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, as he was unable to read. As mentioned in the Nineteenth Letter, And he came with ten thousands of saints (Deuteronomy, 33: 2), the Torah refers to the Companions of the Prophet. That is, his Companions would be pious worshippers, righteous, and saints. Although the Torah has been considerably corrupted through being translated into numerous languages, it confirms with many of its verses the part of Surat al-Fath, Their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. This is their description in the Torah.
The second piece of information concerning the Unseen is this: The phrase, This is their description in the Torah, foretells that the Companions and the generation that followed them would attain such a degree in worship that their spiritual illumination would shine in their faces, and marks would be apparent on their foreheads, like some sort of stamp of sainthood caused by their repeated prostrations. The future bore out this prediction with all its clarity and certainty. Numerous illustrious persons, such as Zayn al-‘Abidin22 and Tawus al-Yamani,23 who amidst perplexing events of dissension and political upheaval performed prayers of a thousand rakahs day and night and performed the early morning Prayer with the ablution of the night or late evening Prayer (i.e., they spent the entire night praying), demonstrated the meaning of and proved the prediction in This is their description in the Torah.
The seventh prediction
The section, and their description in the Gospel: like a seed that has sprouted its shoot, then it has strengthened it, and then risen firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers (with joy and wonder); (thereby) it fills the unbelievers with rage at them (the believers), also contains two pieces of information concerning the Unseen:
The first is the Gospel’s prediction of the Companions, which was unknown to the unlettered Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.
In addition to the verses in the Old Testament concerning God’s Messenger and his Companions such as those mentioned above and others like You will break them with a rod of iron (Psalms, 2:9), The Gospels have several such verses as I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming (John, 14:30).24 These verses foretold that a Prophet would come who would be charged with waging jihad; that he would be the ruler of the world.
It is thus understood from such verses that at the outset the Companions would appear to be few and weak. Nevertheless, like seeds, they would grow, thicken, and gain strength. When they came to the point where they would cause the unbelievers to be choked by their own rage, they would conquer many peoples and prove their Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, to be the ruler of the world. So, the descriptions of the Gospels exactly uphold the meaning of the verses of Surat al-Fath that we have examined here.
Second aspect: This part of the verse alludes to the fact that even though the Companions were relatively weak and small in number when they accepted the Treaty of Hudaybiya, within a short time they were to grow and gain such strength and magnificence that at a time when humankind, planted in the field of the earth by the Hand of the Divine Power, was like a tree whose shoots are short, weak, defective, and barren of fruit due to their heedlessness of the Divine Religion and knowledge, they would multiply rapidly, grow strong, and yield plenty of fruit. The great powers of the time would be filled with rage at them, struggling in envy and jealousy. The future bore out this prediction in a most brilliant fashion.
This prediction has one more hint: it is expected that the Companions should be promised only a tremendous reward where they are praised with significant qualities. However, the verse ends with the promises of forgiveness and a tremendous reward. This suggests that in the future there will appear serious faults among the Companions because of internal conflicts. For forgiveness indicates the existence of faults. At such a time the thing most demanded by the Companions, the greatest favor, would be forgiveness and the greatest reward would be the absence of punishment due to the forgiveness. As the word forgiveness suggests this, it also has a connection with the sentence at the beginning of the Sura, That God may forgive you (O Messenger) your lapses of the past and those to follow. The forgiveness mentioned in this sentence for the Messenger is figurative, for the Messenger is infallible. Even if it is taken literally, it denotes forgiveness suited to the rank of Prophethood. In addition, as it contains the good tidings of forgiveness for the Companions in the person of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, it adds a further subtlety to the verse through the forgiveness promised to the Companions at the end of the Sura.
The Qur’an has ten basic miraculous aspects. Of the many examples of giving clear tidings of the Unseen which are contained in the above-mentioned three verses at the end of Surat al-Fath, only seven examples have been given here. As the last of the three verses refers to the Companions, it also refers to their states and conditions with its phrases. In the same way that this portrays their attributes in its literal meaning, the repetition of its letters in certain numbers alludes to the classes of the famous Companions, like the peoples of Badr, of Uhud, of Hunayn, of the Hall,25 and the Approved Allegiance26. It also contains many other mysteries.
All-Glorified are You. We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
20 Surat al-Fath (Chapter 48) was revealed just after the Treaty of Hudaybiya, which was signed between God’s Messenger and the Meccans in 627, five years after the Messenger’s emigration to Medina. (Tr.)
21 The Muslims suffered a setback in the second stage of the Battle of Uhud, which took place in 625, three years after the emigration of God’s Messenger to Medina, at the outskirts of Mount Uhud, three miles north from the Prophet’s Mosque in the center of Medina. They suffered a similar setback at the beginning of the Battle of Hunayn, which happened just after the conquest of Mecca in the valley of Hunayn between the Muslims and the allied forces of certain neighboring tribes. (Trans.)
22 ‘Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-‘Abidin (d. 712). The grandson of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph, through ‘Ali’s younger son Husayn, may God be pleased with them. He was famous for his devotions, good nature, generosity, and helping the poor and needy. He was nicknamed Zayn al-‘Abidin (The Ornament of God’s worshippers). (Tr.)
23 Tawus ibn Kaysan al-Yamani, one of the leading figures among the generation succeeding the Companions. (Tr.)
24 The Gospels contain several other verses concerning God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and His holy Companions, may God be pleased with them. For example, Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Paraklit) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John, 16: 7–8); Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomsoever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew, 21: 42–4); When the Helper (Paraklit) comes, …. the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me (John, 15: 26); I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. And when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority; but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you (John, 16: 12–14); and Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny; but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you that Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then said they to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John, 1: 19–23). (Tr.)
25 The People of the Hall were the poor Companions who lived in the hall adjacent to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. They were specially educated by the Prophet to become scholars and transmitters of his hadiths. Abu Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, was the most renowned among them. (Tr.)
26 The People of the Approved Allegiance were the Companions who gave allegiance to God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, under a tree at Hudaybiya before the Treaty of Hudaybiya was signed. When rumors circulated that ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, who had been sent to Mecca to negotiate the Muslims’ intention to make Minor Pilgrimage, had been killed, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, called the believers in his company to swear allegiance to him to defend themselves even if they might be killed. They had come with the intention to visit the Ka‘ba and to make a Minor Pilgrimage. However, when they met with the unexpected reaction and felt their cause to be under great threat, they united around the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, as if a single body. They had no other intention than to serve God’s cause in order to gain His approval and good pleasure. God was well pleased with the purity of intention and faithfulness in their hearts. So, this allegiance was later called the Approved Allegiance. (Tr.)